San Antonio Spurs: Carmelo Anthony isn’t worth the risk

San Antonio Spurs fans have been contemplating the idea of acquiring Carmelo Anthony after his expected release from Houston. I don’t think that would be a good move for the organization.

Carmelo Anthony has been bouncing around the Western Conference over the past couple of years after he forced his way out of New York, and the San Antonio Spurs have been talked about as the next potential landing spot for the former superstar.

The Spurs have suffered a ton of injuries already this season and they’re extremely thin at the wing position behind Rudy Gay.

However, I don’t think adding Melo would be an answer to any of their current problems because Anthony has sunk the past two teams he’s been on.

He was a liability on defense for the Thunder last season (ranking 47th out of 86 power forwards in defensive real plus-minus), and he took away shots from Russell Westbrook and Paul George, who are much better players than Melo at this point in their respective careers.

More from Air Alamo

• Is Gregg Popovich hiding Luka Samanic as a secret weapon?
• San Antonio Spurs News: More DeRozan trade talk from Chris Haynes
• Spurs fans show Dejounte Murray support, buy all the New Balance shoes
• Spurs: The Athletic posts conflicting Aldridge rumors minutes apart
• Spurs: Kawhi Leonard ironically complains over lack of “consistency”

Oklahoma City’s season ended with a disappointing first round loss to Utah, and the Thunder got rid of Melo as quickly as they could this offseason.

They are now off to a 9-5 start this year without Anthony, despite missing Russell Westbrook for a significant amount of time due to injury.

Houston then decided to take a chance on the 10-time All-Star in their quest to take down the Warriors.

The Rockets started 4-6 with Melo on the roster, and their defense took a significant dip before they too decided it was not worth keeping him around.

Houston has gone 3-1 since moving on from Melo, including wins over the Pacers, Nuggets, and Warriors (and a loss to the Spurs).

Anthony has a true shooting percentage of just 51.3% this season after putting up a measly 50.3% last year. He also put up a career-low player efficiency rating of 11.6 during his short stint with the Rockets after achieving a 12.7 PER last season.

San Antonio does have a solid history of resurrecting the careers of former stars, but I don’t think Melo is redeemable at this point in his career.

The Thunder and Rockets have two of the best coaching staffs in the league, very smart front offices, and they surrounded Anthony with a ton of talent on the floor. Despite close to perfect circumstances in both situations, each team is much better off without him.

Want your voice heard? Join the Air Alamo team!

Write for us!

I think the Spurs’ coaching staff and front office are superior to Oklahoma City’s and Houston’s, but can they really create that much better of a situation for him to succeed?

Gregg Popovich normally doesn’t like bringing in players once the season starts, and acquiring a player like Melo could really damage the team chemistry and culture that he’s tried to create with this group.

At 34 years old, I don’t think Melo can really help any NBA organization with his declining skill set. Thus, I don’t think he would be a good fit for the Spurs.